Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Greenbriar Sunday October 25, 2009

Hooked up with a buddy from Chattanooga this Sunday for some afternoon fishing on lower Greenbriar. The water was still pretty high and the water temp barely above 50. Fishing was somewhat slow but I managed 10 small rainbows. One of my friends fish pushed 10". It was a beautiful day to be out and the sun was shining. It is getting close to winter time in the mountains. The days are getting shorter and the air is crisp. The rain this year has really filled the ground aquifers up. Water were rushing like a stream in the spring. There are still some October caddis out but it seem to be petering out. Little BWO's were the dominant hatch in the evening.

Friday, October 23, 2009

Harry Middleton

I finally finished Harry Middleton's "On The Spine Of Time". It is not an easy read as far as the flow of the language goes. It is very rich and describing in both terms of landscape and personalities. It is a decent read and one I recommend all fly fishers who fishes around these parts. I have actually read the book once before but didn't retain as much from it the first time. I still consider it to be an average book. It is recommended more for the idea that a well versed fly fisherman from the smokies just ought to have read it, if that makes sense. It has some funny parts in it and it will make you think twice about getting potato salad from a roadside diner next time you are out.

I have began another of Kjell Eriksson's "Ann Lindell" mysteries in my native language Swedish. It is a nice series of books which I found out will end with the tenth book, which just got released in Sweden. I guess I will have to get that one when I'm over in Sweden for Christmas.

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Saturday October 17, 2009 No fishing but shopping instead

The wife and I went shopping today. Before you call me crazy, I had an important mission. I needed to use up my Orvis coupons I receive a few times a year. $25 off $50 is never wrong. We had a gift card for Logan's Roadhouse also to use up. I then ended up at Bass Pro Shops to use my rewards points there. All in all a full day with a lot of bargain hunting. I'm not going to bore you with all the places we went but we went all over the place. As for reading and films. I just finished watching "Hang em' High" again. It has been a while since I saw it. It is not one of Clint Eastwood's best in my opinion. It kind of drags a bit. It is still a good movie just because I'm an Eastwood fan.

My reading is slow right now, I'm finishing up On the Spine of Time by Harry Middleton. He was no Hemingway but a nice read nevertheless. That's all for now.

North River and Tellico DH Revisited

Went back to North River on Saturday October 10th. Got on the stream at about 1 pm and fished until dark. I began at the same spot where I fished last time. This time the water was up even more and it was not as easy as last time. The hunters were out in full force; but I only saw one other fisherman. The water temp was great, right at 60. I managed to catch 5 small bows on North today. They all came on an Orange Stimulator size 14. I proceeded over to Tellico DH for the evening. I didn't take the water temp but it was swift and cold. Fishing was not as easy as last time I was here. The trout still had not spread out from the deeper holes. I got some fish on an orange partridge soft hackle at first, and later they took on top when the October caddis began to come off. I ended up with 4 rainbows on Tellico. All were in the 12" range. Got home to Knoxville at about 9 pm tired and wore out.

Friday, October 9, 2009

Paint Creek, DH and Lower Greenbriar


16 inch Rainbow Trout from Paint Creek, DH October 9, 2009



A nice Rainbow Trout from lower Greenbriar 12 inches.


Went to Paint Creek DH today. Fished upstream of the campground for an hour or so. I lost a ten inch bow and caught a couple of shiners. I then moved downstream to the DH area. There was a tan caddis hatch and the fish were stacked up in pods in the bigger pools. I lost a feeding fish in the 14 inch range and then I caught a small brown of about 2 inches. After another thirty minutes or so I hooked in to the "brute of the day" It was a nice 16 inch rainbow. He shook his head violently but I was able to beach him fairly quickly. I took the fish on a 14 orange stimulator. I fished for a little longer but the fish began to get spooky. I decided to hit lower Greenbriar on the way home. Got on the stream slightly before 5 pm. I immediately began picking up some wild smaller bows. I was really hoping for some stockers from outside the park. Then it happened, a nice rainbow of about 12 inches hit. It almost looked like a wild fish. I fished for about another hour and managed to catch another 10 inch stocker and then I called it a day. Tired and worn out but a good day for the memory book.

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Tellico DH area is on fire

I knew they recently stocked for the opening of the DH area on Tellico. I figured today would be as good as any to venture out. I'm glad I did. The weather was great and the water even nicer. The flow was swift and cold. I took the water temp and it's right at 56. The air temp was in the high sixties when I began fishing at 1:30 pm. I caught a nice 11" stocker bow on a olive bh size 14 almost immediately. I began fishing upstream and managed to catch four rainbows in two hours. One was a smaller wild fish. Then the fishing slowed. I decided to walk back to my truck and fish downstream for a couple of hours. In the first big run below my truck I hooked in to a better bow. It was a solid 12". Then another hit immediately after, this one was the best fish of the day. It fought hard and long in the swift current and I almost regretted not bringing my five weight rod. I fished with my St Croix Imperial 4 wt. This is the old style of Imperial with the soft action. This rainbow turned out to be a solid 14" and very fat.


14" Rainbow from Tellico DH


I managed to hook another pretty good fish and then I began loosing them. I lost two in a row and decided it was time to take a break. After the break I moved with my truck about half a mile upstream. Here I caught two more bows. These were wild fish taking an orange stimulator on top. I saw major hatches today. It began with Little BWO's in size 20 and then midges and orange caddis came off.


Here's a picture from this lovely stream.


I quit fishing at about 6:30 and was pretty tired at that point. I only saw one other fisherman the whole afternoon. I guess everyone was at home watching the game.